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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Q: If you combine the ornate architectural decoration known as "gingerbread", with the Hawaiian style of quilt construction, what do you get? A: The blue Victorian Gingerbread quilt shown below. The term refers to a particular 1860's style of architecture, when buildings were lavishly decorated with hand-carved latticework. This blue quilt has a mystical quality that reminds us of a city silhouetted against the sky at twilight.

In Hawaiian quilts, the applique design is cut all at one time from a single piece of fabric; this 'snowflake' method creates symmetrical repeats, like the ones seen in the four corners of the quilt. As with most Hawaiian quilts, only two colors or shades of fabric are used in the construction. The pattern and a kit for Victorian Gingerbread are available at the Pacific Rim Quilt Company, which is famous for their extensive line of Hawaiian patterns, fabric packs and instructional videos.

Image credit: The quilt image is shown with the generous permission of Janice Lee Baehr at the Pacific Rim Quilt Company. We previously featured PRQC, and a breadfruit quilt by Nancy Lee Chong, in our feature article on Hawaiian Quilts.

3 comments:

I have one of Nancy's small wall hanging patterns but have not made it yet - seeing this piece inspires me to get it out and make it! Maybe after I finish up the projects I am currently working on.I have the Pacific Rim website bookmarked and look at it frequently.Karenhttp://karensquilting.com/blog/